My name is Akampa R. Johnson Tanbull, a WSWM Peer Educator (Western Region) with SchoolNet Uganda (SNU) that is funded by World Population Foundation (WPF). I am a former Head Prefect of Muntuyera High School, Kitunga, currently volunteering to direct, produce and present an Educative, Informative and Edutainment Youth program on a local TV-station called TV-WEST in Western Uganda.
You may be asking yourself why I have always volunteered to do all the tasks I am doing. The reasons are many but I will mention a few:
- I have passion to help and work with my fellow youth.
- I believe that human beings learn from others and others learning from them so I always aim at learning new things from other people as others are also learning from me.
- I love and cherish to meet and interact with different people from different walks of life or from different cultures and societies so as to enrich on my understanding of different cultures and societies as well how to live with different people in unity in diversity.
- Being a disadvantaged orphan who never even took a glance at any of my parents but grew up and came to discover later on that I never had parents has put me in an angle of appreciating other peoples’ lives as well making many friends of value and at the same time help some that might be going a stray to get back on track or at least see the right direction using my life as a testimony.
There are very many more reasons as to who I am? What I do? Why I am what I am? and who I am looking forward to becoming but the most important of all these is that before I started doing all that I am doing and what I have done and what I will do next, I owe all to (WSWM) World Starts With Me program which has gave me a foundation and inspiration.
I joined WSWM as soon as it was introduced as a club in our school (Muntuyera High School) in 2005 so that automatically makes me one of the pioneers of this club at Muntuyera High School. I learnt a lot from the 14 educative and informative lessons that are embedded in the WSWM curriculum e.g. Sexuality and Love, Emotions ups and downs, Boys and Girls, Relationships and Friendships and many others having an exhibition as the last lesson.
These lessons have enabled me to learn a lot as well learn from others on health issues, health relationships, diseases more especially sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV/AIDS -the scourge that has taken many peoples’ lives. Cases of HIV/AIDS reported in my fellow youth has put me at an angle on how to make health decisions as well help others to desist from acquiring the deadly diseases by promoting Abstinence for young people as the best and most safe alternative/option to protected ourselves from HIV/AIDS because being faithful is for the married ones and in practice use of condoms is not 100% safe as some youth don’t know how to use them properly and some condoms may not be stored properly.
Since WSWM uses ICT (Information Communication Technology) strategy, I got a lot of experience on how to use a computer for information, communication and many more. Before I joined the WSWM, I was so green but now I know how to use different computer and ICT gadgets like digital cameras, flash disks etc.
My liking for the WSWM club and lessons grew more when I even started getting outings to WSWM exhibitions with other schools like I attended Bweranyangi exhibition in in Bushenyi District. I missed the exhibition that was held at Bwera S.S in Kasese but I made sure that I inquired from my colleagues what took place.
In my S.4, we hosted our own WSWM exhibition which attracted several people and fellow youth. We interacted, learnt from each other, shared our experiences and it was so good and educative to me and to my fellow colleagues as well. I prayed to God to help me and get grades that would take me to a school that had WSWM club so that continue learning.
Good enough I went back to the same school for my A’ Level and immediately I enrolled as a member and I became the WSWM club coordinator. During the 2nd term holiday of 2009, I got a golden opportunity of representing the school at a 1 week WSWM Student Peer Educator Workshop at Gayaza High School that was organized and conducted by SchoolNet Uganda partnership with the World Population Foundation.
While at the WSWM Student Peer Educator camp, I really learnt and acquired a lot from sharing with the many other students from different schools. I acquired more computer and ICT skills, learnt to write and act educative filmed skits and got more experience by scripting, directing and acting in an educative skit titled “THE PRICE”.
The brainstorming sessions and the environment itself was a fresh experience, but the most important of all was to learn about the (SRH&R) Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Challenges that are affecting today’s’ youth . I became well equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitude I need to handle or teach these challenges to my fellow students in my school and the whole of Western Uganda as a way of “walking the talk” strategy. I went back to my school with a lot of confidence, improved self-esteem and speech, fresh and positive transformed attitudes and ready to do Peer Education and up to now I have never looked back.
When I went back to school, I shared what had happened at the WSWM Student Peer Educators workshop with my school mates. Some testified to me and to others that I had impacted positively on their lives. Students started coming to me for advice, guidance and counseling. Many students put much more trust in me and started seeing me as a valuable asset to them because many now reached or came to me for help. I as well got or made more good friends.
I got the zeal to contest for the post of Head Prefect and was voted into service by students, most said my speech was much more articulate than before and others said it was because there was value in me and others said I was always smart.
I was also elected as the Treasurer on the Executive of Uganda Secondary School Prefects Association Western Region USSPA (W). All these responsibilities and tasks gave me exposure to reach out to my fellow students and youth so I used these opportunities to reach out to all. I organized conferences one at Kyeizooba Girls in Bushenyi District where I invited Mr. Tumwesigye Patrick to facilitate and add on what I was to teach. I allocated to him a topic on Drug Abuse among the youth/students which is also among SRH&R challenges.
As time went, on I was inspired to Author a book titled “THE INSIGHT OF LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOLS”, and I now started to get fully facilitated invitations to share, facilitate and teach my fellow youth about SRH&R Challenges in different schools. I went and addressed students at a conference at Nyakasura School, Fort Port which attracted many schools from Kasese, Fort Portal, and Kamwenge. Later I was invited at Nganwa High School, Bushenyi, Mbarara High School, Kinyasano Girls-Rukungiri, Immaculate Heart-Rukungiri, St. Gerald’s S.S-Rukungiri, ended with Eden International school-Mbarara then settled to do my Uganda Advance Certificate of Education (UACE).
I recently I got another invitation to go and share with Mbarara Army School students because they had a main challenge of coupling so they needed a new face to inspire them and that new face was me in their age bracket so they opened up for the sharing and got so open to me, we shared a lot and by the time I left some we already changed that they testified to me and their teachers.
In my UACE , I got good grades to take me to the University and that is why I am even more confident to talk to my peers on how education is very important but should see how they budget and plan their time as well having passion for what they want to do but with academics as their good foundation.
I am now seen as a profession than before I was in WSWM as well people have valued and respected me more.
I believe I am a live testimony that has greatly benefited social wise, ICT wise, knowledge wise, skill wise, health wise because I have opened up to learn and others to learn from me as well.
I often inspire the young people with quotes like:
“Live each day like it’s going to be your last because you never know when it’s your time”
“Life is a gift that some people take as a joke, living is not a joke it’s a time for you to express yourself”.
There are very many other things that I have benefited from the WSWM and I promise to author a manual booklet based on WSWM.
I am so grateful to SchoolNet Uganda and to the World Population Foundation for introducing and implementation the WSWM in Uganda secondary schools.
